American Literature Collection

In this short story by bestselling author Myla Goldberg (originally published in Harper's magazine), an unemployed artist lands a freelance job that gives him a strange brand of influence over the population of a distant island nation and places him in an equally strange relationship with the...

A story from the collection FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES, a work of startling authority and imagination–an audiobook that is as wondrous and joyful as it is wrenchingly sad. A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK “Taut, edgy, sharply observed. . . . A revelation of the human condition.”...

A story from the collection FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES, a work of startling authority and imagination–an audiobook that is as wondrous and joyful as it is wrenchingly sad. A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK “Taut, edgy, sharply observed. . . . A revelation of the human condition.”...

A story from the collection FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES, a work of startling authority and imagination–an audiobook that is as wondrous and joyful as it is wrenchingly sad. A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK “Taut, edgy, sharply observed. . . . A revelation of the human condition.”...

A story from the collection FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES, a work of startling authority and imagination–an audiobook that is as wondrous and joyful as it is wrenchingly sad. A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK “Taut, edgy, sharply observed. . . . A revelation of the human condition.”...

A story from the collection FOR THE RELIEF OF UNBEARABLE URGES, a work of startling authority and imagination–an audiobook that is as wondrous and joyful as it is wrenchingly sad. “The Wig” takes an aging wigmaker and makes her, for a single moment, beautiful. A NEW YORK...

Nathaniel is a well-intentioned, if naive, British cleric feeling blessed to educate a West African village about the benevolent power of God. But as slavers encroach, Nathaniel’s endeavor is daunted by the realities unfolding on the beautiful homeland of his congregation. It seems the Devil has power too. What follows for Nathaniel is a profound spiritual upheaval as he questions his purpose and even his humanity.

To Chinese American teenager Chuntao, New Lake is a beautiful haven where she can hunt for treasures once swallowed up by a big flood. But when she’s caught scavenging by her biology teacher, a woman whose own past has been swept away, Chuntao is faced with an imponderable question: Which world was better - the ideal one she never knew or the destroyed one that now belongs to her?

Afice is the last of nine generations of women who have survived enslavement, sickness, and hunger. Alone at age seventeen, she sets out through the Louisiana swamps to follow the trail of her ancestors and hear their songs anew. On this journey, Afice must decide how to honor her ancestors while embracing her own future.

A stunning collection of poems that John Updike wrote during the last seven years of his life and put together only weeks before he died for this, his final book. The opening sequence, “Endpoint,” is made up of a series of connected poems written on the occasions of his recent birthdays and...

Have you been wanting to know more about the significant impact black women had on the world? The Woman Who Invented Weaving is a fascinating audiobook that contains a catalog of several notable inventors and inventions by black women, which include the invention of the bathroom tissue holder, pastry fork, and ironing board, among others.

Who Will Cheer for the Young Black Girl is a collection of poetry writings intended to inspire some young woman who is struggling to live up to society’s standard of success as she continues balancing a personal and business life. I believe that words are powerful and can help encourage individuals. It is important to me as a creative writer to paint a picture with words for the enjoyment of my listeners. I hope you as the listener will always be encouraged to continue striving toward your goals in life no matter how dark the path ahead may seem at the moment.

Since 1998, the Alfred A. Knopf Publishing Group has celebrated National Poetry Month by emailing a poem-a-day throughout the month of April to over 25,000 devoted poetry fans. In April 2006, Knopf introduced the Poem-a-Day podcast, which featured poets including Kevin Young and James Merrill...

Already sold in eight countries around the world, these nine energized, irreverent stories from Nathan Englander introduce an astonishing new talent. In Englander's amazingly taut and ambitious "The Twenty-seventh Man," a clerical error lands earnest, unpublished Pinchas Pelovits in...